Wednesday, October 19, 2016

The Scars Keeper by Scarlet Wolfe

Title: The Scars Keeper

Author: Scarlet Wolfe

Genre: YA Romance

Release Date: November 16

Avery
My scars are mine alone. They’re the validation of my pain.
The anxiety, anger and sadness I bleed.
My dark secret. A grim, ugly truth.
Most of all, they’re the one thing in my life I control.
It’s inevitable that one day I’ll have to reveal them to someone. What I wasn’t expecting was to share them now with him … with Hayden.

Hayden
Girls like Avery are all the same. They’re spoiled, superficial blondes who don’t appreciate mommy and daddy’s wealth.
Plastic shells that are empty on the inside.
Or so I thought … but I was wrong.
Avery’s heart is an abyss of emotions. She feels like no one I’ve ever met, wallowing in her insecurities and anguish yet savoring every exciting moment within her reach. I was blindsided by the immense love she was willing to give once she trusted me, and I was left with no choice but to trust her, too, exposing my own pain and scars.
I hate myself for caving in … for loving her. How do you let go of the one person you let in? How do you say goodbye to the girl who trusted you with her body and soul?
I have to leave Avery, and where I’m going, I can’t take her with me. She’s going to believe I built her up only to tear her down, but what she doesn’t realize is unlike her, I can’t change my destiny. I was born into the Knights Union MC, and it’s where I’ll go to die.

“Don’t come any closer,” I order as he gets within ten feet or so and stops.

“Relief or revenge,” he says.

“What?” My hand trembles, and I feel the pressure of the blade against my skin.

“Death … Will it bring you relief or revenge?”

“Both.” He’s stock-still, staring through me with his black eyes. Paired with his grey shirt and ragged blue jeans, he’s menacing, matching the charcoal clouds threatening to soak us above.

“Do you want to know what you’ll get if you slice your neck open?”

“Peace is what I’ll finally get.”

“No. It’s regret. Good memories will flash in your mind, one after another. The dreams you’d hoped to experience in the future will be next.

“Then, I’ll watch it all pass before your eyes as blood squirts and pours from your carotid artery until it’s bubbling out of your mouth, streaming from the corners and dripping off your jaw. You’ll drown from your crimson life on this cold, wet ground.”

I suck in successive sharp breaths before they burst free inside a resounding cry. I pry open my fingers, dropping the knife to the earth before I fall next and hit that cold, damp ground.

I’m on my side and sobbing, watching Hayden come closer. The rain sporadically falls, and as his dusty black boots stand before my face, clean circles appear on them, the dirt washing away from the pelts of water.

He squats in front of me, and if I wasn’t already terrified of myself, I might be of him. My palm and cheek are pressed to the ground as I tilt my eyes up and stare into his.

Thin lips are parted, and jet-colored hair that reaches just shy of his chin is draped around his face.

He grabs the knife, twists his torso, and launches the shiny blade straight at a tree, sticking it as if he’s done it a thousand times.

Moving upright, he steps one foot over to straddle my body, and I gasp. He shoves an arm between my side and the ground before he scoops me up into his arms. Mine circle his neck snugly.

I’m panting for air between my cries, wrestling with confusion over two stark emotions. Anguish that my internal pain didn’t end, and relief that he saved me.

Scarlet Wolfe began writing in January of 2013 as a way to distract and heal from some of the grief she was dealing with after the death of her teenage son.

She instantly fell in love with bringing characters to life. Releasing contemporary romance throughout 2013, she branched out in 2014, adding erotica and teen. In 2015, her first romantic mystery/suspense, The Cassano Series, came to fruition.

When not writing, Scarlet enjoys her time with family and friends and has an addiction to Pinterest. She loves bacon, coffee, stories about possessive, hot alpha males, and other flavors of ice cream besides vanilla. ;)

She hopes her writing will encourage readers to explore their sexuality.